Attenuating indigenous property rights: land policy after the Wik decision

In December 1996, the High Court of Australia handed down its judgment in the Wik case finding, by a 4:3 majority, that pastoral leases did not necessarily extinguish native title. An intense political campaign by both pastoral and indigenous interests, and their political representatives, was aimed, in the case of the former, at legislative extinguishment of native title on pastoral leases and, in the case of the latter, at defending property rights which the High Court found had never been extinguished. In this article it argued that an efficient re-allocation of property rights is unlikely to result from extinguishment, but requires Coasian-type bargains between pastoral and indigenous interests.Land Economics/Use,

‘AIRBNB’ in Western Australia: New Issues for Policy Makers Arising From a ‘Disruptive Innovatation\u27

The short terms rental market, colloquially referred to as ‘Airbnb’ accommodation, has proliferated the Australian (and international) accommodation market. The number of rooms being made available per nights in Australia via sort term rental websites runs into the hundreds of thousands. Policy makers have generally been slow to respond to this ‘disruptive innovation’. It is particularly in strata title schemes where the legality of short term rentals is being tested. In this article consideration is given to a recent judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Western Australia to uphold a decision of the State Administrative Tribunal whereby a short term rental arrangement in a strata complex was held to be without approval and hence a breach of the by-laws of the strata scheme. The judgement raises far reaching questions for short term rentals in the strata schemes and highlights the importance for policy guidance and regulatory involvement by state and local authoritie

Ethics as a risk management strategy: the Australian experience

This article addresses the connection of ethics to risk management, and argues that there are compelling reasons to consider good ethical practice to be an essential part of such risk management. That connection has significant commercial outcomes, which include identifying potential problems, preventing fraud, the preservation of corporate reputation, and the mitigation of court penalties should any transgression arise. Information about the legal position, examples of cases, and arguments about the potential benefits of ethics are canvassed. The orientation of this article is essentially Australian. It is hoped that it may provide some insights of value to other countries

The death of Private Leonard Manning

New Zealand Army Private, Leonard Manning, was killed in an ambush in East Timor in July 2000. The circumstances of his killing and the military context in which it occurred, raised many questions at the time and many of these remain unresolved. This report brings together what was known, as of the middle of 2005, expanding on articles published by the author in the New Zealand International Review, in 2001 and 2005

The Failures of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Resistance, Regulation, and Rejection

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been contentious for more than three decades. Only 24 countries grow GMOs commercially. Four countries (USA, Canada, Brazil and Argentina) account for 85% of the global GMO hectares. Four crops (soy, corn, cotton and canola) account for 99% of GM hectares. Despite the veneer of social validity that regulators cast, the GMO sector has failed to gain a social licence. Where GM labelling is required, food manufacturers avoid GM ingredients. GMOs have failed to gain price parity with their non-GM counterparts, and they attract price penalties. Segregation of GMOs and non-GMOs has failed (with a tolerance of 0.9% GM contamination in so-called non-GM canola). GM has failed the coexistence test with a GMO growers contaminating neighbouring farms. GMOs are a biosecurity fail, with test plots of GM canola planted in the late 1990s still monitored two decades later for rogue canola plants. Most GMO crops are glyphosate dependent. Glyphosate is globally subject to massive litigation claims and awards, and is implicated in the causation of multiple cancers. Mechanisms for compensating farms contaminated by GMOs are lacking. The GMO industry has taken no responsibility for contaminations. GMOs are a threat to the organic sector and the maintenance of certification and price premiums. Most countries (88%) do not grow GMO crops. This paper considers the global experience of GMOs and the Australian experience as a microcosm of the global experience and as a case study

Duty bound? Court Possession Schemes and Clinical Education

The opportunity to take part in the local County Court hearings of repossession cases arose around 3 years ago, the same time as I joined the University of Northumbria as a solicitor/ tutor working in the Student Law Office. I wanted to keep up my own hands-on skills as a solicitor, and so grasped this opportunity with enthusiasm. It has been an invaluable teaching tool as part of student’s experiences within the student law office, but only recently have I stopped to take stock of the nature and value of this experience, and to consider more carefully the aims and objectives, from the Student Law Office point of view, in taking part in this.This paper looks at experiences with students at court repossession days, and the messages we are giving students when we expose them to this type of work – are we moving closer towards clinical legal education with a social justice agenda? And what do we get out of these court days as a student learning experience

‘No higher duty’: Mabo and the failure of legal foundation

The first half of the paper shows how the imperial quality of the common law putatively accommodates the demand for legal foundation. The second half takes the Mabo decision as a test of this supposed ability and finds it foundationally wanting. The continuing insistence of the indigenous presence provides the key

Regulating Ports: competition in South Australian port services for grain

Certain port services, called Essential Maritime Services, are subject to price regulation in South Australia. The need for this regulation is now under review, involving a series of assessments of market structures and market power in port services. This paper proposes a framework for assessing market power in port services, to determine whether there is a prima facie case for regulation. Elements of the framework are applied to the grain industry, which is one of the major users of port services in South Australia.ports, market power, grain, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics,